Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur
Symbol Analysis

Alison uses two Greek myths involving Daedalus as allegories for what life is like growing up with Bruce as a father. The first myth is that of Daedulus and the Minotaur, in which Daedulus was the master inventor who created the labyrinth in order to imprison the monstrous Minotaur. In Fun Home, though, Bruce plays the part of both Daedulus and the Minotaur. As Daedulus, he functions as the architect of the intricate, labyrinthine Gothic Rivival home in which the Bechdels live and which he is always decorating and renovating. But he is also a Daedulus in the sense that he has built up an artificial picture of himself as a perfect family man and father, when in fact he is hiding what he seems to consider a kind of monster within: his homosexuality or bisexuality. And that “hidden monster,” that Minotaur, sometimes erupts out of the carefully crafted labyrinth, whether through his secret affairs or through his erratic but not infrequent rages that terrify his family.

The second myth, that of Daedalus and Icarus, bookends the narrative of Fun Home. Though the myth is a narrative about a parent and child, Bruce again in many ways plays both rolls in the tragic narrative. Just as Icarus flies too close to the sun and plummets to his death because of his father’s miscalculation, Bruce has a similarly tragic premature end, though it is likely one he architects himself. At the same time, the final illustration of the book depicts Alison jumping off a diving board into Bruce’s arms, and through that image Alison seems to imply that because Bruce served both roles in the Icarus/Daedalus narrative, Bruce’s physical presence through Alison’s childhood and adolescence, though often hurtful and erratic, might have helped prevent her from flying too close to the sun and plummeting prematurely as he did. Perhaps Alison inherited her father’s compulsive, erratic Daedalus-like drive and ingenuity, but Bruce’s fall may have made her able to put those traits to far less self-destructive purposes than he did (such as the creation of this graphic memoir).

Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur Quotes in Fun Home

The Fun Home quotes below all refer to the symbol of Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Mariner Books edition of Fun Home published in 2007.

Chapter 7
Quotes

What if Icarus hadn’t hurtled into the sea? What if he’d inherited his father’s inventive bent? What might he have wrought? He did hurtle into the sea, of course. But in the tricky reverse narration that impels our entwined stories, he was there to catch me when I leapt.

Related Characters:Alison Bechdel (speaker), Bruce Bechdel

Related Symbols:Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur

Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation:
231-232

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote is scattered over the last couple of pages of the memoir and it is Alison’s final narration before the book’s end. She circles back to the beginning of the book, when she compared Bruce to both Icarus and Daedalus, both the one who (metaphorically) plummeted from the sky and also the one who designed the faulty wings (in this case, metaphorically, his ultimately fatal repression).

However, here Alison complicates this idea, as she also compares herself to both Icarus and Daedalus. In doing so, she seems to imply that because Bruce fell—and because Alison witnessed Bruce fall—she herself didn’t have to suffer the same mistakes he did. Bruce suffered from both of the negative aspects of Icarus and Daedalus—he flew too close to the sun, and also was culpable in designing the contraption that launched him there. Alison, too, could be considered a master architect—a graphic memoir, after all, is made up of drawings and words of Alison’s own construction. However, rather than falling, Alison is able to soar thanks to her father, and this book is itself a testament that Alison inherited her father’s inventive bent and put it to far better, and certainly more open and honest, use than he ever did.

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Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur Symbol Timeline in Fun Home

The timeline below shows where the symbol Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur appears in Fun Home. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Chapter 1: Old Father, Old Artificer

...notes, acrobatics where one person lies on the floor are called “Icarian Games.” However, though Icarus met his tragic end by ignoring advice from his father, in Alison’s case it is...
(full context)

...everything looking perfect. Alison calls him an “alchemist of appearance, a savant of surface, a Daedalus of decor.” Alison adds that her father had another side of him to pair with...
(full context)

Like Daedalus, Bruce is indifferent to the human (or familial) cost of his projects. Alison notes how...
(full context)

...glass during dinner, Alison narrates that it was always impossible to be sure if the Minotaur was lurking close by. Worse, the constant tension was increased by the many pleasant moments...
(full context)

Chapter 7: The Antihero’s Journey

...not consubstantial, paternity is the important thing.” Then Alison wonders what might have happened if Icarus hadn’t fallen into the sea—what might he have created if he’d inherited Daedalus’s inventive capabilities?
(full context)

Over an image of an oncoming truck approaching, Alison notes that Icarus “did hurtle into the sea, of course.” But then, over an image of Alison as...
(full context)